This stunning novel introduces Susan Lindley, a woman adrift after her husband's death. Suddenly gifted her great uncle's Pasadena mansion, Susan decides to restore his extensive collection of preserved animals, tending to "the fur and feathers, the beaks, the bones and shimmering tails." Meanwhile, a menagerie of uniquely damaged humans - including a cheating husband and a chorus of eccentric elderly women - joins her in residence.

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Publisher's Summary

This stunning novel introduces Susan Lindley, a woman adrift after her husband's death. Suddenly gifted her great uncle's Pasadena mansion, Susan decides to restore his extensive collection of preserved animals, tending to "the fur and feathers, the beaks, the bones and shimmering tails." Meanwhile, a menagerie of uniquely damaged humans - including a cheating husband and a chorus of eccentric elderly women - joins her in residence. Funny and heartbreaking, Magnificence is the story of a woman emerging from the sudden dissolution of her family. Millet's trademark themes - evolution and extinction, children and parenthood, loss and wonder - produce a rapturous final act to the critically acclaimed cycle of novels that began with How the Dead Dream.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

This book just drones on and on. If you want to be asleep, then the time listening to this book will be well spent. If you are looking for an exciting or intriguing read, skip it.

What could Lydia Millet have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

There could have been more of a POINT TO THE STORY. The main character never really changed. She was still the same person, except that by the end of the book she stops sleeping around.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The performance was OK. I found the narrator's voice to be a bit monotone.

Could you see Magnificence being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

If they made this book into a movie, it would be an incredible flop. The only way it would work would be to have more steamy interludes, some real intrigue about "the legacy" (all the dead animals and *spoiler alert* native peoples).

Any additional comments?

This book was just not good. It was dull. What should have been a climactic scene at the end where the main character finally finds "the legacy" was really just not exciting. The characters were all pretty flat with no depth. The book spent a lot of time going nowhere and when it got there, that was it.

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